32.8 C
Belize City
Thursday, March 28, 2024

World Down Syndrome Day

Photo: Students and staff of Stella Maris...

BPD awards 3 officers with Women Police of the Year

Photo: (l-r) Myrna Pena, Carmella Cacho, and...

Suicide on the rise!

Photo: Iveth Quintanilla, Mental Health Coordinator by Charles...

Vildo is Deputy P.M. – Florencio replaces Johnny!

GeneralVildo is Deputy P.M. – Florencio replaces Johnny!
The Universal Health Services Motion may be off the table for now, but the storm of controversy that it spawned continues to fuel agitation at the highest levels of Government. A quick read of things indicates that Prime Minister Said Musa has realigned his Cabinet to weed out those who he felt have not been loyal to his agenda, while, conversely, seating more of his loyalists around the Cabinet table.
 
Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Hon. Johnny Briceño, the representative for Orange Walk Central and his party’s Northern Caucus Leader, resigned from Cabinet after Musa tried to demote him to make way for a formidable political veteran from Corozal South East, Florencio Marin. Almost simultaneously, Foreign Affairs Minister, Eamon Courtenay, relinquished his appointment as Minister and Senator.
 
With that, Courtenay is again out of the sphere of Government—his last departure being in December 29, 2004, when he declined a transfer from a Ministerial post to a subordinate government post, and left along with former Southside Belize City Ministers, Hon. Mark Espat and Hon. Cordel Hyde.
 
Two weeks ago Hyde and Espat were fired from Cabinet for not supporting the Prime Minister’s proposal for Government to settle the $33 million UHS debt. We understand that Courtenay and Briceño had also expressed disapproval of the move for Government to settle the UHS debt, and Briceño went on record in April to say that he did not approve.
 
After Hyde and Espat were fired, rumors were abuzz that Briceño would have tendered his resignation that same week, but that did not come to fruition until today, when Musa tried to demote him and give him parts of the portfolios formerly held by Hyde and Espat.
 
When Briceño rejected that, Musa attempted to give him part of the portfolio held by a senior Minister, but Briceño also rejected that offer and formally handed Musa his resignation.
 
Briceño’s Natural Resources Ministry was offered to Corozal South East area representative, Hon. Florencio Marin, Sr., who is reportedly on his way to retirement. Marin formerly served as Deputy Prime Minister in the PUP’s 1989 to 1993 term under Prime Minister George Price, and more recently, in the late 90’s, as Minister of Sugar Industry, Local Government and Latin American Affairs.
 
By far the resignation creating the biggest buzz is Briceño’s, because of its political implications. Briceño had been Musa’s deputy since the Prime Minister’s first term of office in 1998, and though the alliance has been a relatively stormy one, Musa never went so far as to fire him from Cabinet.
 
In August 2004, Briceño led the G-7 alliance which challenged Musa over public finances and resigned in unison after their demands for reforms were not met – one of them being the removal of former Finance Minister, Hon. Ralph Fonseca, from Cabinet. Musa quickly took back the Ministers to his fold, however, after a public statement that acceded to virtually all their demands, except for Fonseca’s ouster from Cabinet.
 
With today’s Cabinet reshuffle, Ralph Fonseca takes on Housing, which was formerly held by Cordel Hyde.
 
It is noteworthy that Mark Espat’s portfolio of National Development, Investment and Culture has been split between the Prime Minister and Hon. Francis Fonseca, Attorney General and Minister of Education and Labor. Musa gets National Development (with Investment subsumed under this Ministry) and Fonseca gets Culture. This change is significant because Musa’s and Fonseca’s signatures appear on all the documents that have bound the Government and people of Belize to the UHS debt to the Belize Bank – a debt that Mark Espat had unswervingly maintained should not be placed on the backs of Belizean taxpayers.
 
While Musa and the two Fonsecas have gained some portfolios, the biggest winners are the two Marins from Corozal: Florencio Marin, Sr., area representative of Corozal South East, and Juan Vildo Marin, area representative of Corozal Bay.
 
Vildo Marin—one of Musa’s three deputy party leaders and a firm Musa loyalist who supported the UHS deal even without having all the details—has been elevated to the position of Deputy Prime Minister after Briceño’s departure from Cabinet. We understand that the position had also been proposed to Musa’s other deputy party leader, Hon. Godfrey Smith.
 
Musa had taken the Ministry of Information from Smith outside of a regular Cabinet reshuffle, but with today’s official shuffle that transfer of Information has been formalized.
 
A big winner in today’s shuffle was Hon. Rodwell Ferguson, Stann Creek West area representative, who got Cordel Hyde’s former Ministries of Defence, Youth and Sports. This is Ferguson’s first Ministerial appointment.
 
Finally, Ambassador Lisa Shoman – the niece of long-time Musa ally, Ambassador Assad Shoman – will be brought in from Washington to take Eamon Courtenay’s place as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
 
Hon. Marcial Mes, who was suspended from Cabinet duties after he knocked down two minors in Forest Home, Toledo, has been taken back to serve as Minister of State in the Ministry of Education.
 
Cabinet Secretary, Robert Leslie, told us today that the new Cabinet will be sworn in on Tuesday, June 5, and the appointments take effect immediately.
 
The official Government release says that the reshuffle is taking place against the backdrop of the firings of Hyde and Espat, as well as the upcoming national convention of the People’s United Party, and the run-up to the general elections in 9 months. Our sources say that the convention is slated to be held on July 1 in Corozal.
 
While the release suggests that the reshuffle was highly influenced by impending political events, there is another major consideration – that there are other major decisions that are bound to pass through Musa’s Cabinet, and Musa has simply used the opportunity to align himself with Cabinet members who will not challenge him.
 
Political observers we spoke with today say that there is no way that the new Cabinet is going to contribute to any political victory for the PUP with the people of Belize, and that one of the major motives was to weaken Briceño in the North and reduce any chance of him challenging Musa for the party’s leadership.
 
Opposition UDP Leader, Hon. Dean Barrow, says that Musa refuses to take stock of himself, but instead punishes those who took a stand.
 
“It just confirms the fact of life – that the [Musa] administration just lurches from crisis to crisis,” Barrow said, observing that four senior Ministers, including two who were the only ones capable of giving his government any little shred of credibility, are gone.
 
He opines that the rewards given to certain Ministers are simply a pay-off for supporting and compromising on the UHS issue, and for towing Musa’s line.
 
“All those appointments are disastrous,” Barrow commented, adding that Musa is only concerned about cementing his leadership position and clearing his deck of cards, while his leadership has no legitimacy with the wider public.
 
He said that the Prime Minister has made sure the four men – Courtenay, Briceño, Hyde and Espat, won’t be in the way when he, Musa, brings back the UHS matter for settlement, or there may be something else on the table soon – perhaps a proposal for the sale of 8,000 acres of land on San Pedro to a foreign investor, reported by Channel 7 News last week.
 
Barrow noted that the UHS matter reached a new turning point today when the Belize Bank informed the Government that it is moving ahead with arbitration in London. Barrow said, “…more cans of worms will come out when the matter goes to arbitration.”
 

Check out our other content

World Down Syndrome Day

Suicide on the rise!

Check out other tags:

International